USS – the pension scheme for university staff in the UK – is one of the largest pension schemes in Europe. Currently (Jan 2020) they hold over £ 1 000 million in fossil fuels companies, £ 400 million in tobacco and £ 200 million in arms manufacturers. Ethics for USS is a group of USS members committed to reform USS and ensure an investment strategy that protects the planet, respects human rights, invests responsibly and ensures good pensions. Ethics for USS works closely with student groups including People and Planet and also with Share Action. Blog posts reflect the views of Ethics for USS members and not any organisation employing them. Contact Ethics for USS at ussdivest@gmail.com

The team at People and Planet have led a fantastic campaign to persuade UK Universities to divest their own funds from fossil fuels. This list is taken from https://peopleandplanet.org/fossil-free-victories. 

If these institutions can divest surely USS can do the same ??

Academic Institutions that have divested or are in the process of divesting from fossil fuels: Glasgow, SOAS, Queen Margaret, Warwick, University of the Arts, Surrey, Oxford Brookes, Sheffield, Queen Mary London, Nottingham Trent, Kent, Wales Trinity St Davids, Abertay Dundee, Worcester, Bournemouth, Manchester Met, St Andrews, Kings College London, Edinburgh, Durham, Bristol, Cardiff, Nottingham, Bath, Gloucestershire, Loughborough, Keele, Stirling, Swansea, Goldsmiths Liverpool, Ulster, York, University College London

Academic Institutions that have declared they won’t invest in fossil fuels: University of Bedfordshire, Canterbury Christchurch, Newman, Chester, University of the Creative Arts, Cumbria, Winchester, Wrexham Glyndwr, Writtle University College, York St John, East Anglia, Buckinghamshire New, Northumbria, Leeds Trinity, Sheffield Hallam, Huddersfield, Sussex

Academic Institutions that have divested from coal and tar sands: Wolfson College Oxford, Birmingham City, Cranfield, Heriot Watt, Portsmouth, Westminster, DeMontfort, LSE, Southampton, Newcastle, Gloucestershire, Aston, Greenwich, Exeter

Fossil fuels: Royal Dutch Shell £ 538 million; Lundin Petroleum £ 120 million; Pioneer Natural Resources £ 102 million; Equinor £ 93 million, Petroleo Brasilero £ 73 million. Tobacco: British American Tobacco £ 103 million; Imperial Brands £ 85 million. Military hardware: Raytheon £ 209 million